and white house lunch, president obama d mitt romney face to face for the first time since the campaign, tonight, how it went and what happened. and tonight, the powerball winners, what we know, and who they are, and the secret code that could be in the numbers. nightly news begins now. good evening, at a time when so many people are still suffering, right now tonight more than one month after a monster storm hit a giant population center, today we learned some facts about how this earth is changing and how fast. for starters, polar ice sheets in greenland are melting at five times the pace, than just a few years ago. new research shows that antarctica is melting. while it takes a lot of ice to melt the ocean levels they say that is in fact what is happening.

and they believe just an incremental rise in the ocean levels made the damage worse when hurricane sandy hit the east coast and took so much away from us. the big question is the future, of course, and a new kind of normal for all of those living along the water. it is where we begin tonight, our chief environmental affairs correspondent, anne thompson has more on what we learned. >> reporter: well, the information comes from a group of international scientists, brian and shows we're living climate changes in real time. this july was the warmest month on record. and tonight, there is new information that reveals just how fast the world's ice sheets are melting. the numbers are staggering. 344 billion metric tons of ice melting in antarctica and greenland a year. the weight of more than a million empire state buildings,

the information was published in the journal, from researchers who looked at the data gathered over the last 20 years. creating what they say is the most accurate picture of melting. in antarctica, the east region is gaining ice, but it is not enough to make up for the loss on the rest of the continent. in greenland, it is shown here in red and is losing ice five times faster than in the early '90s. >> the faster speeds we're seeing in greenland are not going to slow down. that is not the way ice sheets behave. >> reporter: the melting accounts for 20% of sea level rises in the past two decades, according to the study adding 11 mm, it doesn't sound like much, until you consider it is like pouring in 26 lake tahoes. antarctica and greenland are the vastest reservoirs of ice on the planet all told they hold hundreds of feet of sea level rises >> reporter: that is the worry,

many of the world's cities are in the cross hair. >> most of the people live in the coastal areas, where the ports are. they are at sea level. so even small level rises can displace many in those areas. >> reporter: look at what happened on the east coast, this could be the impact of five feet of sea level rises, and could impact others in just a few centuries. today, new jersey and new york are still recovering from the punishing effect of sandy, a storm fuelled by higher seas. in greenland, this photographer used time lapse cameras to record the melting five years ago. >> i want to show people the reality of what is happening. >> reporter: what he found here is the subject of the documentary, "chasing ice". >> and that effect, more ice is going into the ocean as it is speeding up. >> reporter: confirmed by the results of today's study. now another report this week says sea level rises are happening 60% faster than the united nations predicted in 2007. this is all critical information because more than half of all

americans live within 50 miles of the coastline. >> bracing bunch of numbers today, anne thompson leading us off tonight, thank you. tonight here at the u.n., it is the u.s. and israel leading against the rest of the world. a u.n. vote on the official membership of palestinians, the vote that the u.s. and israel have been spending a long time trying to stop. the question is, what effect will this have on anything approaching peace in that region? our chief correspondent affairs, andrea mitchell. >> reporter: good evening, on the 65th anniversary of the u.n. giving israel the land to become a state, they voted overwhelmingly to recognize the palestinians, but only as an observer state. and a non-voting official state it is a step for nationhood, and a potential flash place for the middle east. hours earlier, they were already celebrating across the west bank.

in ramallah, he made a pizza with tomatoes, olives, and spinach, representing the palestinian flag >> this is what we longed for over 60 years, it is about time a flag that today's u.n. actions will still not make palestine a nation. >> the united nations general assembly is here to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of palestine. >> reporter: for palestinians watching the vote on the giant screen, it was a huge victory. in ramallah, nbc's martin fletcher. >> reporter: this is a great personal triumph, but what the people here most want is real change on the ground, and that won't happen without direct face to face negotiations with israel. >> reporter: israel, having just gone through eight days of conflict with gaza, strongly objected, arguing that palestinians must first recognize their right to exist. before gaining new rights at the u.n. >> the world awaits for

president abbas to speak the truth about peace, that can only be achieved through negotiations, by recognizing israel as a jewish state >> reporter: palestinians hope today's vote will strengthen their hands in future peace talks. but the u.s. argued that it could set them back. >> today's unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path to peace. >> reporter: still, peace talks have gone nowhere for years, critics say partly because washington has not pushed both sides hard enough. >> the peace process yielded by the united states has helped nothing for the palestinians. at the end of the day, this is about land. >> reporter: a major concern for israel is that the palestinians could now use their new status to press the united nations criminal court to press the occupiers in the territory. today, they are threatening to punish the palestinians by withholding u.s. aid, brian. >> andrea mitchell in our washington bureau tonight, thank you. and then there was that

lunch at the white house today, the president and mitt romney who arrived at a side door, walked in and sat down with the man who got the job he wanted so badly. kristen welker has more on the story. at the white house with more on the sit-down between two former rivals, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. this lunch was really more about optics than substance. and mostly, it was striking a tone of bipartisanship after a decisive campaign. formerly bitter rivals, mitt romney and president obama, hoping to show they have put past differences to rest. in this sole picture released by the white house, you can see the private dining room where the two ate and talked for over an hour in the dining room. and boxing gloves. but aides joked there were no punches thrown at the meeting, which both sides characterized as friendly. >> i think he is interested in some of his ideas. romney left his hotel in downtown washington in a black

suv, arriving through the west entrance for his meeting. no secret service or advisers by his side. white house officials say the men lunched on white turkey chili and salad. the governor congratulated him for the campaign and they talked about america's leadership in the world. >> i am very happy to see this picture. it was good for the american people. >> reporter: but there was an awkward backdrop to the snap shot. coming on the heels of controversial comments, romney saying obama won because he gave gifts to his constituency. and former top romney adviser, stewart stevens wrote about the victory and the quote, he was an african-american president with a billion dollars, no primary and a media that often felt more conflicted about being critical. >> did that contribute to the comments in any way, cloud a certain backdrop to this lunch? >> no, first of all, i think campaigns are a tough business.

the debates are sharp. and in this case, they are very important. >> reporter: now brian, the secret service says a man was arrested after interfering with the vehicle coming into the office. and then fighting with an officer, but officials also tell me that nobody was injured in that incident. brian? >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. and while those two had lunch, the vice president went to costco, where he proudly pointed out he is a gold member. he toured the very first one in the district of columbia, filled the cart with supplies, a flat screen tv. somehow, though, he passed up the chicken. and speaking of optics, this was all optics, and joe biden talked politics, and the cliffhanger, that took a few twists and turns on capitol hill today.

nbc's kelly o'donnell has more on the update. >> reporter: good evening, brian, remember the optimism coming from both sides in the days after the election? well, last night, speaker john boehner spoke an hour on the phone. today, the optimism hit a snag. and we can tell you there are some changes going on in the mood as they reverted to their default position, a stalemate. chris-crossing the capital today, the top negotiatior, tim geithner, met top republicans and democrats about the fiscal crisis but john boehner came out saying that the white house has not come up with a strategy critical to votes. >> i am disappointed where we are and what has happened over the last couple weeks. but going over the fiscal cliff is serious business. >> reporter: any real deal-making is the stuff of quiet conversations and meetings.

rob neighbors used the language of high-stakes diplomacy to respond to john boehner's complaint >> i thought the conversation was very direct. and as always, i appreciate directness. >> reporter: while the senate majority leader, harry reid, was very blunt about being pessimistic. >> i don't understand his brain, you should ask him. >> reporter: visiting their nation's capitol today, mixed expectations from tourists from georgia and texas >> i hope they get it, more than i did before the election. >> of course i'm nervous, you never know what politicians are going to do. >> reporter: democrats, still lifted by their election success, argued that voters chose higher tax rates for wealthy americans as part of any plan to cut the deficit. and say republicans will have to give in. >> did speaker john boehner get the message? because the message was work together. >> they're not going to openly concede on this point this far out from the deadline, but they see the handwriting on the wall.

>> reporter: late today, gop sources said that they have some details about the proposal brought here from tim geithner. they say the white house is offering $1.6 trillion in tax increases over ten years, 400 billion in cuts coming later. and no new proposals dealing with entitlement reform. republicans say for them, a nonstarter. >> kelly o'donnell, another cold night on capitol hill. thank you. and as this debate goes on, a memorial service in washington today for a long-time budget-cutting warrior, former senator warren rudman, and david suitor was among them, and former senator and white house chief of staff, howard baker, a republican from new hampshire who authored a bill that included automatic spending cuts way back in '85. warren rudman went on to found the coalition that pushed for reducing the deficit.

senator rudman died this month at the age of 82. and former president george h.w. bush in a hospital treated for bronchitis, he is listed in stable condition and expected to be released within 72 hours. his doctors described him as pretty much as normal, happy, joking with the staff and getting better. up next as nightly news continues. the guessing game over who won that giant powerball, and what some people have noticed about the winning numbers and the pattern they follow. and later, the random act of kindness caught on camera that is getting a lot of attention for all the right reasons. t

powerball, you may be curious about who did, there are two big winning tickets and the second largest jackpot in american history, in missouri and arizona, more from dearborn, missouri, where one of the tickets was sold. kerry, also very curious about this secret code imbedded in one of the winning numbers >> reporter: very interesting, one ticket was sold here at this gas station,he other in arizona. now, so far the identities of people who bought the tickets are yet to be revealed in this, the largest powerball jackpot in u.s. history. in tiny dearborn, missouri, where just about everybody knows everybody, the question is, was

it one of their own who bought a powerball ticket at the local market. >> very exciting, we never, ever thought we would sell the winning ticket, and here it is, we did. >> reporter: folks in this farming community off interstate 70 are now trying to figure out if the winners were figured out a certain way. dearborn is home of the royals baseball team. those winning lottery numbers? they match the hall of famers, brett, leonard, the powerball was wilson, the one outlyer, bo jackson, the first athlete to be named an all-star in two major american sports, baseball and football. number 23, gubiza, announcer, heard the theory all day. >> i hope it is because they like the six in kansas city history. >> reporter: and while it is a coincidence, the baseball spring training is in arizona, where

the other ticket was sold, at this suburb outside phoenix. again, the question here? who bought the winning ticket. >> yeah, yeah, this is excellent, i'm so surprised. it is wonderful, i would like to know who it is, because you know, fountain hills is a pretty small town and you know most everybody. >> reporter: there are strong indications here that the ticket sold here went to a local family. the wife bought it, ten dollars for the ticket. she has been unemployed. actually had a job interview today. she didn't go. a press conference is planned at the local high school here tomorrow. >> yeah, and who doesn't love a good juicy conspiracy theory. kerry sanders, thank you. dearborn, missouri on the interstate, thank you, kerry. and up next here, a big discovery from a place far, far away. [ laughter ] [ girl ] wow, you guys have it easy.

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back with the news from mars, and it is a bit of a disappointment. as we told you last night, one guy at the jet propulsion laboratory where they had that big announcement, had all of our hopes up. sounded like something big. but they say today, so far they found no signs of life, any organic material, on the mars soil, and for space buffs, there is ice on mercury, more than a trillion tons, important because mercury is the closest planet to the sun, but the ice can be found closer to mercury's poles. and this picture was taken in a place called false bay off the coast of south africa. but it is in fact, real. a nature photographer set up rubber seals in the water as bait, waited three days to capture the series of photos of a 13-foot great white leaning out of the water to get its catch. and new list of popular baby

names for 2012, so you can see if you or somebody else is part of a trend. top names for boys, aiden, jackson, ethan, liam, mason. for girls, ending in the letter a, ava, sophia, isabella, very exotic. and there is this, the keeper of the baby name stats say they're starting to pick up evidence of baby girls being named after the characters in "50 shades of gray". up next, the photo of a cop's generous gesture that has become something of a sensation. leaping over h finally toni

photo taken by a tourist who saw something on a cold night in times square. and the photo has warmed a lot of hearts as it has gone around the world on the web. and in the process, it has made a new york city police officer something of a hero. the story behind the picture from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: in times square, visitors tend to look up, struck by the bright lights and billboards. but officer larry diprimo had his eyes on the streets, and on a homeless man in the street. in need of help. >> it was freezing, first thing

i thought, this was absolutely unacceptable. i went up to him. i was like where are your socks or shoes or anything? >> reporter: he was on the counterterrorism beat when he saw the homeless man sitting right here with no shoes on. in that moment, he thought it was not just his job to protect, but also his job to serve. the most immediate need was obvious, and the shoe store was right there. jose conno was on shift. >> the officer was inspiring, i worked in the city for about ten years, and nobody has really taken this sort of initiative. >> reporter: conno cut him a deal on the water-proof winter boots, the officer paid with his own money. >> i think this is an important reminder that some people have it worse. >> reporter: jennifer foster, a tourist, saw as he gave the man a new pair of boots. >> this man's face lit up like it was christmas, and like he had just been given literally a million dollars. >> reporter: foster couldn't resist taking the now-famous photo, nearly half a million likes on facebook, and the number keeps rising.

>> the fact he took the time on his shift, his own money, to do this for that gentleman, with his own money, i can't say enough about it. >> reporter: in this city, they're call new york city's finest, officer diprimo is a good reason why. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. how about that, and while random acts of kindness take place every day, let's celebrate this one. the officer will be a guest live in the studio on "today." that is our show tonight, thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, we hope to see you later for "rock center," 10:00, 9:00 central. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. good evening.

good evening. we begin with the storm watch. not just the rain. it's the flooding and saturation. historically you might recall we've had a lot of damage and injuries during storms like this. one of the questions tonight, can we be better prepared? as for our roadways, it is a slow commute. this is a live look at the 280, 880 interchange in the south bay. you see the headlights those cars are traveling northbound. our live camera network. let's switch over to 880 in oakland. we have live team coverage. marian fav roe joins with us a look at it. we begin with jeff ranieri with the latest. >> we have that new watch that has come out with the national weather service over the past couple hours that a lot of you are going to want to pay attention to. here comes the latest slow system. it is very slow g